it will damage our economy. the government is a big part of this economy. it's interesting that a lot of time you have people recognize that when it comes to defense spending. some of the same people say we have to cut spending or complain that government jobs don't do anything, but when it comes to the defense contractor in their district, they think it is an important part of the economy in their district and that we should not stop spending on that. let's just make sure we're not spending on those other people. [no audio] my hope is that common sense prevails. that is always my preference. i think that would be the preference of the american people and it would be good for the economy. let me just repeat. if the issue is deficit reduction, getting our deficit sustainable over time, getting our debt in a sustainable place, then democrats and republicans in congress will have a partner in me. we could achieve that fairly quickly. we know what the numbers are and we know what needs to be done. we know what a balanced approach would take and we have done hal